Pilling is a problem. It can turn a beautiful sweater into a sloppy mess. It makes me look crazy, as I can't stop myself from playing with the little balls, trying to pick them off while wearing the sweater. So far, I've not found a great solution to my pill problem.
Last week, I was standing in the check-out line at Bed, Bath and Beyond, when I found a new product to try by Hollywood Fashion Secrets. The Hollywood Fashion Secret Company makes another product that I swear by, Hollywood Fashion Tape.
I have a closet filled with outfits desperate for an opportunity to surprise me with a wardrobe malfunction and the fashion tape is my first line of defense. It keeps everything in place. I highly recommend it.
When I saw that the sweater saver was made by Hollywood Fashion Secrets it made me decide to give it a shot.
I picked a favorite, old sweater to test the product on. The test sweater is a cheap one from the Gap, but I love the cornflower blue color and the boatneck fit. I've had it for years. Unfortunately, it has always had a pilling problem, covering the entire sweater in small darker blue balls with every wash.
The Sweater Saver is a pumice stone. I could be wrong, but it seems even more porous than an average pumice stone, so I'm not sure if just buying any old pumice stone would yield the same results.
The directions say to lightly rub the stone over the garment. At first, I rubbed too lightly, afraid of hurting the sweater. It probably depends on the material, but this sweater took a rather rough rubbing before I saw the pills captured in the stone.
It worked!
I was happy with the results, although it was a bit time consuming. It would have taken about fifteen minutes to do a great job on the entire sweater. The pumice stone easily crumbles, leaving a fine layer of black dust, that luckily,came off of the sweater with ease. I don't think that I would attempt to use it on more delicate fabrics, like my cashmere, however, it's great for less expensive pieces.
The packaging states that it can be used on opaque tights. I have a whole box full of pilling opaque tights that need some TLC.
The product was less than six dollars, a worthy investment.
It's time to Spring clean that winter wardrobe. I plan on a day of wardrobe maintenance, including washing, de-pilling and storing all of my sweaters until fall.